


you were just part of a dream

by onacoldnight



Category: VIXX
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, i just have nothing to do, this is so lame, tutee sanghyuk, tutor jaehwan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 14:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10492779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onacoldnight/pseuds/onacoldnight
Summary: jaehwan has constantly rejected sanghyuk's confession. sanghyuk, however, doesn't know how to give up.





	

A to-go coffee cup is placed beside the book he's been reading for more than an hour now, with a small sticky note on its lid.

 

 _Start your day right with a strong but sweet coffee, Jaehwan! See you later_ _♡_

 

Jaehwan looks up and sees Sanghyuk now waving his hands at him meters away and making a heart sign with his arms. After that he runs away, probably going to his next class. Jaehwan covers his face with his hands, completely embarrassed with the gesture. Beside him, Hakyeon stifles a laugh.

 

“The kid just won't give up.”

 

Jaehwan sighs, removing the note and sticks it on the last page of his journal which is already filled with other sticky notes from Sanghyuk. “I've already told him no. Several times. But he doesn't listen to me.”

 

“Why did you say no to him, Jaehwan?” Hakyeon asks, putting down his notes on the table to focus on him. “Sanghyuk is nice, and actually very hot.”

 

Jaehwan glares at Hakyeon. He really hates it when he's being cornered like this. “It just doesn't feel right.”

 

“What doesn't feel right?”

 

Jaehwan looks around, afraid that someone is listening, then goes back to Hakyeon. “Well, he is my student, and I'm his tutor.”

 

“So?”

 

“So?” Jaehwan clears his throat when his pitch suddenly went up at Hakyeon's comment. “I'm five years older than him, I'm graduating in two months and he's only a first year.”

 

“What's the problem with that?” Hakyeon argues, poking Jaehwan's shoulder with his eyebrows furrowed. “That's a lame excuse, Jaehwan. You obviously like him so much. And I'm not the only one who noticed that.”

 

“I don't like him. You are all mistaken.” Jaehwan goes back to his book, avoiding Hakyeon and his demanding stare. His eyes catch the coffee sitting on the table, and he takes a sip. Strong but sweet. Just how Jaehwan likes it.

 

 

***

 

 

“This is quite easy, but you have to do lots and lots of practice. So, first you have to do is square the first term, then –” Jaehwan stops to see if Sanghyuk is listening, and he closes his eyes in frustration when he sees him just staring at his face. “You know that we can never finish anything if you keep on staring at me.”

 

“Don't worry, I still understand what you're saying.”

 

“Sanghyuk, the procedure on expanding a binomial is not on my face.” Jaehwan points out, pointing at Sanghyuk's algebra worksheet with his mechanical pencil. “Listen to me, please. Focus on your worksheet, not on me.”

 

Sanghyuk (cutely) pouts and looks down at his worksheet, muttering something like, _But I can't stop staring at you._ Jaehwan tries to fight the blush on his cheeks, and starts explaining again to Sanghyuk. This time, Sanghyuk actually listens to him and gets it right when Jaehwan makes him do his problem sets.

 

“Why do you even need tutoring, though? You're a very fast learner, and professors teach this in class.” Jaehwan asks, watching as Sanghyuk puts his things in his bag.

 

Sanghyuk only gives him a smile, then zips up his bag. “Are you free today? Let's eat something.”

 

Jaehwan wants to say _yes, of course I would like to eat with you,_ but his brain is just uncooperative. “I'm sorry, Sanghyuk. But I have to go home.”

 

Sanghyuk nods at him, shrugging. He looks disappointed. Well, Jaehwan is not really a good liar. “Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then.”

 

Sanghyuk gives him a short wave, and this time he doesn't give him finger hearts which he always does whenever their tutoring session ends.

 

Jaehwan feels like shit.

 

 

***

 

 

Jaehwan regrets that he lets Hongbin join them in his tutoring session with Sanghyuk. Hongbin gives him knowing glances, wiggling his eyebrows. Jaehwan’s favorite cream bun is on the table from Sanghyuk, and as expected there is a sticky note on its packaging.

 

 _Sweetest cream buns for the sweetest angel_ _♡_

 

“Hey kid.”

 

Sanghyuk stops from rummaging his things to look at Hongbin. “Yeah?”

 

Jaehwan quickly searches for Hongbin’s leg from under the table in an attempt to kick him, but his friend is also quick to avoid himself from potential injury. “So how long have you been worshipping my dear friend Jaehwan?”

 

“Hongbin.” Jaehwan can only hiss – since they’re in the library and Sanghyuk is watching them – and he blushes furiously at Hongbin’s choice of words. Sanghyuk then counts exaggeratingly with his fingers.

 

“We met at the start of the semester, then I've started doing this for...almost two months?” Sanghyuk replies. Jaehwan’s eyes widen. _It’s already two months?_

 

“Two months! You’re dedicated, huh!” Hongbin says, completely enjoying it. Jaehwan swears he is going to choke him later. “Then, what do you like the most about Jaehwan?”

 

Jaehwan clears his throat. “Don’t answer him, Sanghyuk. We still have topics to discuss. Come on, take your books out.”

 

But instead of listening to him, Sanghyuk just looks at him with a small smile on his face, then back at Hongbin. “I love everything about Jaehwan. But if you’re going to ask me what I love the most about him, I think it’s his smile. You know, that smile from ear to ear? He lights up when he smiles like that.”

 

Hongbin is on the verge of bursting out laughing, covering his face with his notebook. “This kid has a way with words, Jaehwan!”

 

Jaehwan groans, patting his face with his hands. He bites his bottom lip to stop himself from smiling. “Enough. I’m going to kick you out if you don’t go back to your goddamn plates, Hongbin.”

 

“Alright, sorry.” Hongbin says, but he doesn’t sound apologetic at all. Jaehwan glares at him for the very last time, then goes back to tutor Sanghyuk. He tries not to focus on how red Sanghyuk’s ears are.

 

 

***

 

 

Jaehwan watches as Sanghyuk twirls the pen on his fingers, concentrating on the problem Jaehwan gave him for practice. He doesn’t notice the way Sanghyuk’s teeth biting the tip of his tongue while thinking, and he surely doesn’t notice the way Sanghyuk glances at him before smirking.

 

“I think I’m stuck.” he says, pushing his worksheet to Jaehwan. He then leans forward to point out his problem, face merely inches away from him. Jaehwan gulps, silently praying that he doesn’t stutter when he corrects Sanghyuk. He really hates it that Sanghyuk can give him this weird kind of reaction.

 

Thankfully he doesn’t stutter, then he gives him a new problem to practice. “Now try this one. Don’t forget to plot your equation.”

 

Sanghyuk goes back to his seat and begins again. Jaehwan brings his attention to his phone, as it is much safer than to stare at the other.

 

He’s near to beating his high score when Sanghyuk calls him again, and he takes the worksheet from his outstretched hand. Sanghyuk got the correct answer, complete with the heart-shaped graph he’s looking for. But what gets his attention are the letters surrounding the cardioid. There’s an ‘i’ written on the left side of the heart, and ‘you’ on the right side.

 

 _This is not right,_ his brain supplies, while his heart beats two times faster. Sanghyuk has been sending him confessions for two months, but this one is entirely different from the others. Sanghyuk is telling him he loves him, and Jaehwan should say he loves him too, but there’s an unsettling feeling that holds him back. He should say no again, because he feels like it’s not right.

 

“Sanghyuk.” he pushes the worksheet back to Sanghyuk, who’s looking at him expectantly. He breathes out before continuing. “You should stop doing this.”

 

“What?” Sanghyuk mumbles, looking down. “Are you saying no again?”

 

“I’ve told you for so many times but you don’t listen, Sanghyuk.”

 

“Yeah, but you never tell me why, so I just continued doing this.” Sanghyuk says, with that soft but disappointed voice Jaehwan hates hearing from him. “Now, why?”

 

“This doesn’t feel right.” Jaehwan explains. “You’re a lot younger than me, and I’ll be graduating in less than two months. You’ll meet lots of people after that. People much better than me.”

 

“That’s it?” Sanghyuk says sharply, and stares at Jaehwan incredulously. Hakyeon is right, it’s a lame excuse, but he can’t really blame himself for it. When Jaehwan just stays quiet, Sanghyuk sighs in defeat and folds his worksheet with the heart-shaped graph. Jaehwan badly wants to take everything he said back. “Okay.”

 

“We should continue this tomorrow.” Jaehwan says, putting his pens back in his pencil case. His hands are shaking. “When is your next quiz?”

 

“This coming Monday.” Sanghyuk mutters, and he’s standing up. Jaehwan’s heart clenches in hurt. It’s probably over now.

 

“We still have lots of time then.” Jaehwan forces himself to say. It’s painful for him to see Sanghyuk like this – sad and confused. “See you tomorrow.”

 

Jaehwan feels so empty.

 

 

***

 

 

Sanghyuk is already fifteen minutes late, which is very unusual of him since he always shows up very early. Jaehwan has texted him five times already, and he gets no reply, which is also very unusual because it only takes seconds for Sanghyuk to text him back.

 

He looks around, worried that something happened to Sanghyuk. But then he suddenly recalls that he rejected him yesterday and it probably gave Sanghyuk a reason for not showing up. Because he's disappointed at Jaehwan for being so dumb. But then again, Sanghyuk is a student who unnecessarily worries about his grades, that was why he asked Jaehwan to help him with his math subjects when he found out that Jaehwan is a student volunteer.

 

Twenty minutes passed and Jaehwan is about to text Sanghyuk that he doesn't have all day and he's cancelling the session when he sees someone familiar lining up to return a book. He gathers his things and approaches the first year, putting his hand on his shoulder.

 

“Sungjae, right?”

 

The other nods, then he blinks up at him. “You're Jaehwan?”

 

“Yeah. Do you know where Sanghyuk is?”

 

Sungjae scratches his head, then, “He went to our morning classes but he told me at lunch that he's feels sick. So he went home and skipped our afternoon classes.”

 

“I see.” Jaehwan deflates, and he feels like he's the reason for that.

 

“You don't know? He didn't tell you?” Sungjae asks, and covers his mouth quickly. He probably knows about what happened yesterday. “Oh. I'm sorry.”

 

“It's okay.” Jaehwan pats his back, motioning for him to line up again because the librarian is waiting. “Thanks for telling me.”

 

 

***

 

 

It's already Friday but he doesn't show up again. Sanghyuk's quiz is on Monday. They have no meetups on weekends that's why they have to finish everything today. Jaehwan groans in frustration, burying his face on his books.

 

“You look like you're about to cry.”

 

Jaehwan lifts his head from his book and scowls. “I'm not.”

 

“Yes, you are.” Hakyeon says. “Because you rejected Sanghyuk and now he's not showing up.”

 

“He also skipped the lessons yesterday.” He says, flipping the pages of his old notes he intently searched from the deepest of his worn-out storage boxes for Sanghyuk to use. “What if he fails his quiz? And the next ones? His finals? It's really my fault.”

 

“And you should tell him the truth before he completely gives up.” Hakyeon says, patting his back gently. “This time you shouldn't hold back, let him know that you like him too.”

 

 

***

 

 

Fortunately he has Sanghyuk's schedule so he waits for him to finish his quiz and come out of the room. Sanghyuk is sitting at the front, right end. He doesn't look like he's struggling so he's thankful for that.

 

When the bell ends, Jaehwan gathers his things and stands up, waiting for Sanghyuk to come out. He greets the professor, and after a few students, Sanghyuk appears.

 

Sanghyuk sees him, and the smile on his face quickly fades as soon as he approached him. It hurts for Jaehwan to see that he's the reason for that.

 

“Are you feeling better now?” He asks, noticing how Sanghyuk avoids looking at him.

 

He nods. “Yeah, I'm okay.”

 

“You skipped our last two meetings. How's your quiz?”

 

“I'm confident that I will pass.” Sanghyuk replies quietly. He looks down at the floor, and Jaehwan badly wants to hold his face so that he will only look at him.

 

“Sanghyuk, listen. I –”

 

“I think we should stop this. The tutoring, I mean.” Sanghyuk cuts him off. Jaehwan falters. “You told me once that I don't really need this since I'm a fast learner. I think I should trust myself to pass these classes on my own.”

 

“Sanghyuk.” He says weakly, reaching out to hold his arm but Sanghyuk just steps back. He needs to speak now, but he can't find the courage anymore. “Sanghyuk –”

 

“Sorry if I'm being bothersome these past few months. And thank you for all your help. I learned a lot from you.” Sanghyuk says, and bows at him. This seems like a good bye Jaehwan doesn't want to hear. “See you around, senior.”

 

Jaehwan's eyes sting, and he waits for Sanghyuk to leave before he covers his face with his hands. So this is what rejection feels like. It sucks.

 

 

***

 

 

“If you don't stop sulking I'll freaking flick you so hard on your forehead you're going to forget everything.” Hakyeon warns. “You're ruining our appetite.”

 

“I'm sorry.” Jaehwan mumbles. The burger Hakyeon bought him looks tempting, but he just doesn't feel like eating. “I feel so terrible right now. Can you flick me on my forehead so hard I'm going to forget Sanghyuk even just for a while?”

 

“You and your stupid reasons, Jaehwan. Now, look what happened.” Hongbin sighs. “You two could have been disgustingly lovey-dovey by now if you just told him you like him too.”

 

He's about to defend himself when Sanghyuk appears at the doorway of the school café, and he's not alone. He's walking with a girl who has her hand on Sanghyuk's arm. “Who is she?”

 

“Who?” Hakyeon and Hongbin both say, and turn around to see Sanghyuk laughing with the said girl.

 

Jaehwan grits his teeth. He should be the one laughing with Sanghyuk, not that girl latching on his arm. Did Sanghyuk already give up on him? He should be sulking too. That is so unfair.

 

“Oh, I smell jealousy.” Hongbin says with that irritating voice of his. “Someone should do something before his favorite tutee gets stolen.”

 

Jaehwan scoffs, and stands up. He needs to formulate a plan to get Sanghyuk back.

 

 

***

 

Sanghyuk is with that girl again, on the study lounge. At least they're not talking, too busy with their own schoolworks. Jaehwan opens the paper bag he brought along to make sure that its contents are complete. He has planned about it for days, and if he fails then he will be facing the embarrassment for weeks until he graduates. The pain of rejection though, will probably last a lot longer.

 

He takes a deep breath and approaches the table, his free hand in the paper bag ready to take it all out for Sanghyuk to see. Then without pause he puts everything on Sanghyuk's desk, from his right to left. Those were the things (and foods) Sanghyuk gave to him before, also with a sticky note, one word each.

 

_Sanghyuk, I like you. Will you go out with me?_

 

Sanghyuk looks up at him, eyes wide, but his face blank. Jaehwan gnaws his bottom lip. This is the very first time Jaehwan has given anyone a confession like this, and it seems like he's going to be rejected.

 

The girl beside Sanghyuk is trying her best not to laugh, but when Sanghyuk elbows her on her side, she finally bursts out laughing.

 

“Oh my god, Sanghyuk. This is gold.” She says, putting all her things in her bag. “You better tell me everything, Sanghyuk or else I won't let you rest.”

 

She leaves, winking at Jaehwan's direction. Jaehwan feels small, a lot more when Sanghyuk turns back to look at him.

 

“I'm sorry if my cousin was like that.” Sanghyuk says, then motions for Jaehwan to sit down in front of him. Jaehwan feels relieved, finding out that she's just his cousin. Sanghyuk picks up everything Jaehwan put down – coffee, cream bun, a set of highlighter pens, and more – but his face is still blank that it worries Jaehwan so much. It doesn't also help that he's blushing. “You really did this?”

 

Jaehwan nods. “Yeah, I did.”

 

“Hmm. Hongbin told me you're going to confess soon, but it’s been days that I thought you changed your mind.” Sanghyuk says, and now he finally smiles. Jaehwan gapes, feeling betrayed a little because Hongbin ruined it for him, but then he's still thankful that Sanghyuk hasn't given up yet.

 

“Sanghyuk –”

 

“I should give you a hard time too, but we've wasted so much time already.” Sanghyuk leans forward and kisses him on the corner of his mouth. He grins when he pulls away a little bit.

 

Jaehwan becomes hyper aware that they're in public. He quickly hides his face, mortified.

 

Sanghyuk only giggles. “If you still want a verbal answer, then yes. I will go out with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. if you reached this without cringing, thank you very much  
> 2\. comments are very much appreciated! ♡  
> 3\. (extra) sanghyuk actually liked jaehwan the first time he saw him, that was why he signed up for the tutoring because he wanted jaehwan to notice him lol


End file.
